Method:I used the pressure cooker first to cook 11/2 cups of rice. Since Menu Today advised that the grains should stand out, I used two cups of water for one cup rice.Then I went on to grate the mango.Next, I dry roasted fenugreek seeds and powdered it in a blender.I never knew that powdered fenugreek could smell so good. I proceeded to splutter mustard and cumin seeds followed by other ingredients.Now I added the raw mango and stirred it for a minute. I finally added the cooked rice and methi powder and mixed it thoroughly.The fragrant mango rice was ready to be served.Thank you Menu Today for this great recipe.This was simply yummy.You can use left over rice to make breakfast.This is my submission for the MBP :Easy Breezy Breakfast event. I'm also linking this post to Coffee's MBP page.

Vidhya from Iyercooks has given me the Lemonade award. Thank you so much Vidhya for encouraging a novice like me.I'm thrilled because this is my first.

The rules of this award are as follows:Put the logo on your blog or post. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude! Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

My mom has undertaken Santoshi Mata ka vrat,hence we decided to visit her abode at Virugambakkam, Chennai on the 15th( Friday). She is an embodiment of happiness,hence the name Santoshi Mata.She is a symbol of prosperity,auspiciousness,hope and contentment.One can propitiate her by praying to her for 16 consecutive Fridays. A benevolent and a wish granting deity women specifically pray for marital harmony.The temple priest was very friendly and allowed me to click pictures of the temple.He was extremely congenial and seemed very content and happy like the Goddess herself.We also picked up a picture of the Goddess next to the temple and promptly installed it at home.Can contact the priest at 9444758984 for any queries.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

M2 and me made this Kozhambu for Pongal.We used a whole lot of vegetables for this preparation.This can be kept for two or three days.It has to be boiled frequently.Hence it is also known as eritha Kozhambu

Ingredients:

pumpkin-1/2 piece

ash gourd-half a piece

sweet potato-one medium

colocasia-a handful

broken beans-a handful

brinjal-5

sabre beans-10

carrot-2

potato-1

chayote(chow chow)-2

tamarind pulp-a big marble size

green chillies-1

turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

pitlay powder

coconut grated -half

cooked red gram dal-1 cup

For seasoning

Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp

Urad dal-1/4 tsp

curry leaves-a few

oil-a little for frying

For Pitlay Podi:

coriander seeds-3 tbsp

bengal gram dal-3tbsp

red chillies-6

asafoetida- a small block

coconut gratings

Grind all these ingredients to a powder

Method: This is for four or more people. Boil vegetables with salt and turmeric and pitlay podi.Cook till vegetables are soft.Add tamarind extract and boil for 2 mins.Add cooked red gram dal.Thicken with rice flour if necessary.Add fried seasoning.Garnish with curry leaf and coriander leaves.We also made four side dishes pumpkin curry,raw banana curry,sabre bean curry and sweet potato curry.The idea was to have to sweet curries and two hot curries.

Method: Mix rice,moong dal,gram dal and dry roast lightly.Add 3 cups of water and pressure cook.You can also add unboiled milk instead of 1 glass of water.Melt the jaggery with a little water in a pan.Remove the scum. Add the rice,moong dal and gram dhal to the jaggery.Add milk and stir.Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add in the mixture.Add elaichi powder and ghee to the mixture.

Method for filling: Soak gram dhal for 15 mins and pressure cook for 2 or 3 whistles until mushy.Cool and blend into a fine paste.Take jaggery and melt it with 1/4th cup of water and remove scum. To this jaggery liquid,after it thickens to a single thread consistency add gram dhal mixture and stir till the mixture becomes a pliable dough.Add cardamom powder.Cool it and make desired balls.

Method for covering:Knead maida with salt,turmeric,two tablespoons ghee and required water to make a dough.Keep aside for atleast 2 or 3 hrs.You do this to get soft polis.

To make the Poli: Take a little maida dough and place it on a plantain leaf smeared with ghee. Flatten the puri to accommodate stuffing.Now place the bengal gram dhal ball on top of the puri.Cover the poli and turn it over to make a puri.Place this on a tawa,with the leaf flat down and wait till the poli sticks to the pan.Cook this poli with ghee on the edges.Cook both the sides and remove from fire.

The menu for bhogi at my place usually is Paruppu Payasam,Poli,Amavadai,Vazhaika curry,Pitlai and More Kuzhambu.We do not use onions on this day. I made Paruppu Payasam and Poli on bhogi day.

Paruppu Payasam recipe:

Ingredients:

Milk-3 cups

Moong Dhal-2 tablespoons

Bengal gram dhal-2 tablespoons

Jaggery-1/2 cup

Cashewnuts-1 tablespoon

Elaichi powder-1/2 teaspoon

Ghee-2 tablespoons

Method: Fry cashewnuts in ghee till golden and set aside.Soak both the dhals in water atleast for 15 mins and pressure cook for 2 or 3 whistles till the dals are mushy.Mash them and keep aside.Add quarter cup of water to jaggery,melt it and strain the scum.To this cleaned jaggery liquid add both the dals and stir well.Add the heated milk and simmer for five minutes.Add cashew nuts,elaichi powder and ghee and take off from the flame.

I made this arrangement on turmeric leaves for the crows to eat. I was thrilled to bits.Then crows got so curious that I was scared they would pull out the leaves before I made the arrangement of left over food.I even kept manjal sadham for them.

To elaborate, this festival is celebrated after sankranti. This festival is called kari naal and kanu peedai.This is mainly celebrated for the welfare of brothers.The lumps of food that you see is called Kanu pidi. I have kept four fresh manjal leaves and have made seven marble sized balls of curd rice,eritha kozhambu,chakara pongal and manjal saadham .This my submission for Pongal Celebrations at Pritis Makar Sankranti Festival

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

After seeing Priti's Makar Sankranti festival event,I have decided to add how I celebrated Pongal at home.We celebrate Pongal for three days. The first day is Bhogi Pandigai,when the entire house is cleaned with the frontage of the house decorated with kolam and kavi(red oxide).

The second day is Sankranthi,this festival also falls on the first day of the Tamil month Thai,so its equally auspicious.After my ablutions, started off with the naalu moolai kolam, followed by tying of the mango thoran at the entrance of my home. We follow a custom of tying manjal kothu(turmeric plant) around the chakara pongal utensil and ginger kothu around the rice and dal utesil.I anointed the pathram with manjal and kumkum before tying the roots. These utensils need to be kept on the suryan and chandiran kolam. I kept the following items for pooja betel leaves,nuts, flowers, bananas,sugar cane,coconut and jaggery.After thanking the sun god for all his benevolence we took our food. The next day we celebrate Kanu Pandigai where we make kalanda sadham like puli sadham,thengai sadham,lemon rice and curd rice.Thus Pongal turns into a feasting and thanks giving festival for us at chennai.This is my submission for Pongal celebrations to Priti's Makar Sankranti Festival

Method: Cut up the above mentioned vegetables. Heat a pan. Put in the sesame oil, wait till the oil heats up. Splutter the mustard. Fry the green chilli,onions and the vegetables.Fry till all vegetables are cooked. Add turmeric and Salt.Stir for a second.Now add the cooked rice. Mix the veggies and the rice and serve hot.You can use yogurt as side dish.

Method: Wash one cup of rice and half cup of lentils. For one cup of rice use 3 cups of water. For 1/2 cup of lentils use 1 cup water. Take a container to be put inside the cooker. To the washed rice and lentils add water. To this mixture add all the spices and vegetables and salt according to taste. Close this container and put it in the cooker to cook. You can put the cooker off after 5 whistles, the idea is to make the mixture mushy. After the pressure is released remove the container from the cooker. Add ghee and coriander leaves and mash the mixture with a spatula.The yummy khichidi is ready. Serve it yogurt,pickle and pappad.This is actually a balanced meal. You get the carbs from the rice,protein from lentils,minerals and fiber from veggies and fat from ghee. Cumin, pepper,asafoetida,ginger aids in digestion. Turmeric is an anti bacterial and anti cancer agent. Green chilli boosts metabolism.Coriander leaf is aromatic and is considered to be carminative.Khichdi is one power packed meal.

Method: I cut up three bell peppers(green,red and yellow) into small bite sized pieces. Use a tsp of oil to splutter mustard in a pan, add in a pinch of asafoetida and green chilli and scald it in the pan. Add the bell peppers and fry veggies till it cooked.Cool it and add it to the thick curd. Add in salt and jeera powder and serve as an accompaniment to pilafs or eat it as a salad.This is healthy too.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

M2 and me visited Paris on July 2007. We paid a visit to the Louvre museum. We saw some amazing paintings and sculptures from around the world. As a souvenir we purchased the Musée du Louvre calendar 2008. I'm featuring the painting called Le Printemps (1573) from the calendar. I simply loved the way the painter has incorporated flowers and leaves to represent spring in the form of a portrait. This is so creative, and so life like. He has taken into account miniscule details that simply amazes me. I wonder how long he took to complete this portrait. Sheer talent this.

The fourth picture clockwise is also from the Louvre website. This painting is by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-July11,1593) , an Italian painter. He is known for making portraits made entirely from flowers,leaves, fruits etc. The painters picture is from wikipedia. He has also painted other seasons like Winter,Summer and Autumn.

We were so sick of eating out, that we decided to host a party at home for a couple of M2's friends. I made bisibele bath and rasam.M2 made baby potatoes,my mom made thayir sadam. I outsourced the salad and the starters to Naya Swad. They are located at no:778,poonamallee high road. The owners are Manoj and Vrinda Kejriwal.They serve some authentic home made gujurathi fare. I asked for corn and paneer cutlets,tiranga idli dhokla,rotis and channa masala without garlic,chinese salad and pani puri. Pani puri was a good starter and a show stealer. Our guests liked it a lot.The food ordered from Naya Swad was awesome and I liked the chinese salad the best. We are having friends to come over after a long time, i had a good time.